happiness / joy

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.

Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

See also Seat of the Mind / Seat of Emotions, rejoiced greatly / celebrated, the Mossi translation of “righteous”, and joy.

complete verse (John 5:35)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 5:35:

  • Uma: “Yohanes is like a lamp that shines and brings light to you. And you, you were very glad to hear his words. But your joy is just for a short time.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Yahiya was figuratively like a burning lamp giving light to the thoughts/minds of mankind and you (pl.) were happy in his light, that means at his teaching, even if only for a little while.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because as for John, he is like a lamp whose shining is bright, and his shining upon you made you happy for a very short time, which is to say, for a short time you were pleased with his true teaching.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Juan, he can-be-compared to a lamp that shines, and you enjoyed his shining-in your minds/thoughts for a little-while.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for Juan back then, an illustration of him was a shining light because, as for what he taught, it gave light to the mind/thinking of people. You were pleased a little bit with this light of his.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “That word spoken by John is like a light which collects the insects, for you gathered about where he was speaking. You rejoiced a little while about what he said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on John 5:35

The noun John translates a Greek demonstrative pronoun (literally “that one”) which is translated “he” in Revised Standard Version.

The Greek text says that John was a lamp, and Good News Translation changes this equational statement to a simile: John was like a lamp. Since it was the activity of John, rather than his appearance, that was like a lamp, it may be important in some languages to translate “John shone, as it were, like a lamp” or “John gave light, as it were, just as a lamp would.”

It may also be useful to incorporate one of the two participles, burning and shining, into the initial statement, for example, “John, as it were, was shining just like a burning lamp” or “… a lamp with a burning wick.” The word burning must not be translated in such a way as to suggest that the lamp itself was burning. To do so might suggest that John himself was burning up!

Again the pronoun you is emphatic, and it is used in contrast with the pronoun I of the next verse, which is also emphatic.

The Greek term rendered in Good News Translation as to enjoy is a strong word, as its use in 8.56 (Good News Translation rejoiced) indicates.

The translation of You were willing for a while to enjoy his light is more complex than it may appear. A literal rendering of this sentence may give the impression that the Jews simply enjoyed the benefits from the lamp which John provided. An even more serious difficulty is involved in the expression enjoy his light, for light must be understood figuratively, as referring to what John said. Therefore one must say in some languages “What John said, which was like a light, caused you to be happy.” The second part of verse 35 may then be translated “for a while you were willing to have his words, which were like a light, make you happy.” Such translations make clear that John’s words were the cause of the joy.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .